A YORK restaurant has scooped a TripAdvisor award based on customer reviews less than a year after opening following major setbacks.
Yemen Heaven, in Walmgate, has been awarded with a TripAdvisor Traveller's Choice award, which celebrates businesses that have received great traveller reviews from diners across the globe over the last 12 months - and the restaurant has only been open for eight months.
The Arabic restaurant is also a finalist in the Visit York Tourism awards for a 'resilience and innovation' prize - the winners are to be announced next year.
Yemen Heaven has been recognized by Tripadvisor as a 2022 Travelers’ Choice award winner. The award celebrates businesses that have received great traveler reviews from travelers and diners around the globe on Tripadvisor over the last 12 months. 💚 THANK YOU.
— Yemen Heaven (@YemenHeaven) October 3, 2022
@Tripadvisoruk pic.twitter.com/jrB01YEC0m
The success comes after the family behind the restaurant faced several setbacks, which included vandalism in December 2021, which resulted in tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage.
They had to appeal to the community via a Go Fund Me page and raised £21,000.
But they still had to resort to DIY YouTube videos to learn how to carry out some of the repairs, such as the plumbing, themselves.
Owner Mona Al Maflehi said: "York gives us warmth and love so we want to make our customers happy and give them more, to make things special.
"We work really hard and cook from the heart and people say they've never tried food like this before, they come and then return from outside of York and Yorkshire and want to help them create memories while they're here in York.
"People in their reviews say they love our atmosphere and hospitality, and to get so many in a short space of time is the drive that keeps us going.
"The reviews make me very happy."
Mona's daughter, Zaynab Yafai, said: "When I told her she's won the award she didn't know what it was, she didn't know she was up for an award and so she didn't understand the gravity of it at first - I said, 'Why are you not jumping up and down?'
"But once she understood she was very happy and she's worked so hard!"
Mona says she enjoys putting on weekly night events, such as belly dancing, live music, and DJ sets.
During Ramadan and on Eid, a Muslim festival, Mona invited international students to celebrate with her family after closing so they didn't feel alone.
Mona said: "Its not just about business, its about providing a feeling of home and love, we are one and we are all the same, we now feel like we have a big family here.
"This is a dream come true, I want to tell people that when things are hard, don't give up, believe in that light at the end of the tunnel and you will do it."
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